Floating ground for ac

[patrickgrue]

I was trying to get my 13500 btu ac to run with my 3300i generator, the generator kept kicking off when I flipped to ac. Some fellow mentioned a floating ground plug might fix this issue for me, anyone experience this working? Apparently you just plug the neutral and ground together and plug it into the 110 outlet? While running from the 30 amp?

[Learjet]

that has nothing to do with overloading the generator due to the current required by the compressor at startup. You need a soft start capacitor...aka hard start capacitor.

[patrickgrue]

Originally Posted by Learjet

that has nothing to do with overloading the generator due to the current required by the compressor at startup. You need a soft start capacitor...aka hard start capacitor.

They should just build those in on RV ACs

[Explorer03]

Originally Posted by patrickgrue

Some fellow mentioned a floating ground plug might fix this issue for me, anyone experience this working? Apparently you just plug the neutral and ground together and plug it into the 110 outlet? While running from the 30 amp?

A 3300W generator should work with our 13500 BTU AC.

"On average the amount of watts a 13500 BTU AC unit will use is 2750 on start-up and 1250 for running time."; Campingadivsor.com

I had this issue with my older trailer. I made my own bonding plug (internet search); or you can purchase one (see link). This resolved the issue for me. I plugged the bonding plug into the outlet on the generator itself.

https://www.microair.net/products/ge...r-bonding-plug

[Route 66 Traveler]

Originally Posted by patrickgrue

Apparently you just plug the neutral and ground together and plug it into the 110 outlet? While running from the 30 amp?

That is called a Bonding Plug. Do a search and you’ll see some examples, or look for one on Amazon.

A SoftStart will help a smaller generator start an air conditioner. Your 3300 should run your 13.5 if there are no other loads running.

[patrickgrue]

Originally Posted by Explorer03

A 3300W generator should work with our 13500 BTU AC.

"On average the amount of watts a 13500 BTU AC unit will use is 2750 on start-up and 1250 for running time."; Campingadivsor.com

I had this issue with my older trailer. I made my own bonding plug (internet search); or you can purchase one (see link). This resolved the issue for me. I plugged the bonding plug into the outlet on the generator itself.

https://www.microair.net/products/ge...r-bonding-plug

I think that "bounding plug" is what the fellow was talking about. He said join the ground wire to the neutral wire he called it a floating ground..............I thought it was odd that putting a plug in the 120 outlet would make a difference while running on the 30 amp.............I wonder how it works?

[Learjet]

it ties the neutral and the ground together....or the white wire and green wire. Same thing your main panel does in your house.

You can go on youtube or google to make your own.

[craigav]

Keep in mind that regardless of whether the generator has a floating neutral or bonded ground\neutral, that difference in of itself will not cause an overload condition with the generator. The main reason an RV owner would want to bond the neutral to the ground is if the RV has an EMS that will not allow the current to flow if it detects a floating neutral (unbonded neutral\ground).

My suspicion: So many generators now are advertised at their highest possible output which is unsustainable. I would not be surprised if a 3300w generator could only provide for a continuous output of 75% the rating (2475w). Which should be enough for a 13.5k btu A/C, however the engine of the generator is less capable at higher altitudes such as where the OP is located and perhaps camping.

My suggestion would be to turn off all of the breakers, start the generator, turn on the main breaker, and then turn on only the breaker feeding the A/C. If that holds then consider turning on any other required breakers such as to the converter. While this may allow the A/C to run, it will likely fail to restart the A/C if other items are running.

BTW, for the OP, what is tripping on the generator, overload or GFCI? ~CA

[patrickgrue]

Originally Posted by craigav

BTW, for the OP, what is tripping on the generator, overload or GFCI? ~CA

It's a red light on the generator, the overload light

I'd like to figure out how to turn everything off except the AC, I have no idea what is being powered when the generator is working. I need to find the circuit breaker box on this unit, maybe I'll start a thread.

[patrickgrue]

So I turned the reostat all the way to warmest and I got it to run, it would load up, but then.normalize. I slowly turned it all the way to coldest, and it ran fine. We'll see how it does in the mountains.

[garywilson]

Originally Posted by patrickgrue

I was trying to get my 13500 btu ac to run with my 3300i generator, the generator kept kicking off when I flipped to ac. Some fellow mentioned a floating ground plug might fix this issue for me, anyone experience this working? Apparently you just plug the neutral and ground together and plug it into the 110 outlet? While running from the 30 amp?

Get a standard 15 amp replacement plug w/ground (3-prong).
With a short wire and inside the plug 'housing', join the neutral and ground.
Plug into any 15-20 amp receptacle on generator.

Then, plug your 30 amp into the RV receptacle.

[joe w]

Originally Posted by craigav

Keep in mind that regardless of whether the generator has a floating neutral or bonded ground\neutral, that difference in of itself will not cause an overload condition with the generator. The main reason an RV owner would want to bond the neutral to the ground is if the RV has an EMS that will not allow the current to flow if it detects a floating neutral (unbonded neutral\ground).

My suspicion: So many generators now are advertised at their highest possible output which is unsustainable. I would not be surprised if a 3300w generator could only provide for a continuous output of 75% the rating (2475w). Which should be enough for a 13.5k btu A/C, however the engine of the generator is less capable at higher altitudes such as where the OP is located and perhaps camping.

My suggestion would be to turn off all of the breakers, start the generator, turn on the main breaker, and then turn on only the breaker feeding the A/C. If that holds then consider turning on any other required breakers such as to the converter. While this may allow the A/C to run, it will likely fail to restart the A/C if other items are running.

BTW, for the OP, what is tripping on the generator, overload or GFCI? ~CA

We purchased two high altitude carb jets for our Etrailer generator, one for 3-6K and one for 6K plus. Easy to change which we do if staying at altitude for a long period of time. Our generator which is a 2000W surge 1600W running unit runs our 13.5K soft start AC just fine.

[sr903]

Had similar problem using an eu2000 gen with 8k btu ac. Generator would shut off when ac tried to start. Problem was that Generator was running in Eco mode, meaning that engine speed was governed by load. Engine was at idle when ac would try to start and Generator couldn't handle the high starting current. Turned off Eco mode (now engine runs at full rpm) and it works every time